Access your Pro+ Content below.

NoSQL database system, no problem?

One snowy morning recently a group of chief technology officers from the Boston area debated the merits of Platform as a Service over a breakfast of scrambled eggs and waffles. Scot Petersen Someone asked to clarify, "What are we really talking about when we are talking about Platform as a Service?" Before anyone could answer, one CTO interrupted with another question: "What's the business problem?" Nods all around. As if this group needed a reminder, technology is never deployed for its own sake. It's never been more important to ask that key question when it comes to spending IT dollars. New technology abounds: cloud, mobile, social media, analytics. But what is the value to your business? In the April issue of Business Information, we take a look at a new database technology, the realm of -- NoSQL a.k.a. "not only SQL" -- as well as its younger cousin, NewSQL, a kind of synthesis to the thesis of the good, old relational database and its NoSQL antithesis. The good news is NoSQL databases arose from a specific business problem...